Student Emergency Aid

The Student Rights and Community Standards office administers an emergency loan program comprised of donated funds. Full-time, currently enrolled students on Ball State's main campus are eligible for emergency loans.

Emergencies are considered circumstances beyond a student's control such as an accident, loss of income, or illness. Late refunds of financial aid reimbursements generally will not be considered an emergency. All other sources of funding must be exhausted, including options available from the Office of Scholarships and Financial aid and assistance from family members.

In order to be eligible for emergency funding, the student

must have a GPA of 2.0 or be a freshman or transfer student in the first semester at Ball State

may not be on disciplinary probation

must be currently enrolled with full-time status and admitted to a degree program through the Office of Admissions or the Graduate School (i.e., a "main campus" student in Muncie)

may not have a current outstanding student emergency aid loan

The maximum allocation to a student will be $500. Payment is made to vendors or other third party (e.g., landlord or utility company) and not to the student. Mailing the payment usually takes a week at minimum and often may require more time upon the date of the request and the information about the vendor that is available to the University's accounts payable system.

Funding is made available typically only for textbooks (however, see note above about emergencies), living expenses (e.g., rent, utilities), and some small medical emergencies. No assistance is provided for phone, cable, security deposits, or car payments. Due to the restriction from making allocations directly to students, money for food is not provided. Tuition assistance is available but is typically limited to seniors nearing graduation.

Emergency assistance is typically made as a loan. Repayment agreements are required with repayment dates of no more than three months. Shorter periods (e.g., one month) may be required in some cases (e.g., when student loan reimbursements are pending). Failure repay the loan in full by the agreed-upon date will result in a hold on a student's account.

Payment can be made at the Bursar’s Office located in Lucina Hall, room B32. To assure that payment(s) apply to the emergency loan and not Bursar charges, it is important that students inform the cashier they are paying on their StudentAffairs Emergency Loan Account. This payment cannot be made online. Additionally, the Bursar's Office will not accept credit card payments over the phone.